How is Cloud Storage Different From SAN and NAS?

Information Technology (IT) infrastructures in the past have a host of storage equipment, but the traditional methods can be broken down into two types: primary and secondary.

Primary, as called production storage, is randomly accessed and utilizes applications that are active. This type of storage uses storage area networks (SAN), network attached storage (NAS) and some other storage types. A newcomer to this type is cloud storage providers.

Secondary is sequentially accessed and offers data protection services. Discs and tape media are the traditional types of methods used for secondary storage services. Cloud storage services have is also part of this type of storage type.

Primary does not offer all the capabilities or performance most are searching for in a storage center, the price also varies greatly. This is why many larger companies classify this type into different tiers. However, this can become very expensive. This is where cloud storage has come into play. For less, cloud storage providers can offer better performance and more capabilities at a reduced cost, saving large companies a lot of over head.

What to Take Into Account

IT professionals are now being faced with a host of options when it pertains to data storage. Many businesses have built and started to sell storage services. With so many out there, you need to take certain things into account and not dismiss any type of storage service and choose one over the other without taking your storage requirements under consideration. Here are some of the differences between each storage center.